The Joker is a joke: How Hollywood ruins the DC favorite once again

I’ve said 2024 has been a stellar year for cinema. I mean — “Alien: Romulus,” “The Substance” and “Dune: Part Two?” And, as if Hollywood can hear my inklings of excitement, it drops the ball again.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” was marketed as a musical. Now, I have never been a fan of musicals outside Disney Princess films as a child. Despite my initial doubts, I gave the movie a chance. I saw its potential, and it was a huge help that the first film is one of my favorite movies. With such a star-studded cast, including the likes of Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix, the same director, Todd Phillips, as its predecessor and Hildur Guðnadóttir at the helm of its score, I looked forward to it. Needless to say — expectations were high. But, it seems not even Lady Gaga could save this sinking ship.

The film starts strong with the audience immediately thrown into the all-too-familiar grunge and dystopia that is Gotham City. The film sprinkled impressive cinematography, an even better score and musical elements in the first half. The thing is — this Joker centers around delusion and revenge against a world that rejected him. If we’re going to have the Joker, the most seriously-taken villain in the DC franchise, break into song, make it make sense. Make it part of his delusion, use it to toy with viewers’ expectations of who the Joker is and what he might do next. Especially with the addition of a new rendition of Harley Quinn, the pair could have made a deadly duo.

Instead, the film suggests this is the case within the first few musical numbers and then, well, gives up on the notion entirely. By an hour in, the viewer is a captive audience to a Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga concert that bears no resemblance to the grit of its predecessor.

In “Joker,” Arthur Fleck is sympathetic, at times, but the film centers around the transformation of Fleck into the flashy, laughing Joker persona viewers know and love. In “Joker: Folie à Deux,” he’s just sad. I found myself practically begging for my favorite villain to grace the screen. Combine this with a strange societal take — that viewers want the Joker, but, in reality, the Joker is just a mentally ill man who the world has failed, and I am one step out of the theater. It’s like director Todd Phillips treated this go around like a sociological statement rather than a compelling film. How did we get from the “Dark Knight,” trilogy to “Suicide Squad,” to this? I mean — the film is confined to Arkham Asylum and a courtroom. I’d rather spend my Saturday night laughing at “The Room.”

Unfortunately for Joker fans around the world, the film ends like a bad joke. The end is sudden and cheap, rendering all characters dead or pointless. Maybe Phillips should put Gotham down for good and make another “Hangover” movie instead.